Sam Brown: “We do not want to put ourselves in a position again where we have to fight for our lives at half-time."

Moseley RFC player Sam Brown wants side to come out with all guns blazing

TO most the scheduling of tomorrow’s
Championship match between London Scottish and Moseley for a lunchtime kick-off probably seems like a sensible idea that avoids a direct clash with England’s appointment with South Africa.

After all around 80,000 people will be in the vicinity of the Richmond Athletic Ground tomorrow and those who wish to try their luck with Twickenham’s traffic quagmire might just
have enough time to watch the Exiles and then nip a couple of miles down the A316 to catch the Springboks at 2.30pm.

Others,
whose vision through their single eye has a Red and Black hue, could detect a London Scottish conspiracy. Particularly given the evidence of the previous three meetings between these two sides at the Athletic Ground.

Indeed they might suspect the decision to kick-off at 12.15pm has more to do with Moseley’s inability to start well against Scottish than the autumn internationals and that by the time Swing Lo is ringing around Twickers and Mose have girded themselves for their customary second half comeback
– the match will be over. After all the statistics certainly show that Moseley don’t really bother until 3.30pm.
Their first visit last season saw them 24-0 down inside 45 minutes, in their second, in the play-offs, they were 20-6 behind in similar time and last month, in the British & Irish Cup, they were 20-0 after just a quarter-of-an- hour.

“It’s
been a bit of a trait of ours,” admits scrum-half Sam Brown. “We have tried everything to sort it out but I think it’s just down to a mindset.

“We
do not want to put ourselves in a position again where we have to fight
for our lives at half-time. We have got to come out and set the tone and go all guns blazing and be the players we are at the end of matches,
from the beginning.”

Indeed
they do because if Mose leave it until half-three again, Simon Amor’s side will be sat in the clubhouse, watching the TV, sat on bar-stools and potentially a ten-point cushion near the foot of the table.

And how Messrs Pennycook, Quigley, Spivey and Reay would love that.

“This
game could be potentially be a springboard for us,” Brown says. “If we
do win this we have the opportunity climb up the table in the next few weeks.” And that would definitely be a start.